July 30,
2008: The Iraqi Army has had problems
with finding and training troops capable of mobile operations, and effective
enough to work with American units. The U.S. troops move pretty quickly, and
expect a high degree of effectiveness from those they do work with. To help
solve the problem, the U.S. Army offered Iraqi commanders a special training
course that would select the most capable troops, and train them to a higher
standard. These troops would be called "scouts" and would be formed into
companies (about 150 troops), but used mainly as platoons (20-40 troops). U.S.
Army Special Forces and U.S. Navy SEALs often conducted the training, and only
about 50-70 percent of those selected, finished the three month scout training.
Iraqi
commanders used their scouts they way they often rely on American troops. That
is, when an enemy location is raided, the scouts would be held back, to be used
if enemy fighters had to be pursued. This was particularly necessary at night,
when most raids took place. If a raid was a particularly complex and dangerous
one, you could use scouts, whose superior skills and experience insured the operation
was a success.
Each Iraqi
division has at least one company of scouts. These troops have been available
for several years now, and the terrorists and militias have tried to destroy
them by attacking them or their families at home. Some scouts quit the army
over this, and some were murdered (along with wives and children). Most scouts
remained at their jobs, and the number of volunteers for scout training has
increased.
